The sports genre in film and on TV is quite popular if you really think about it. We see tons of shows and movies on basketball almost yearly yet ironically, the world’s most popular sport Football (no, I’m not talking about American rugby) hardly gets represented on our screens. Apple TV remedies that by introducing us to Ted Lasso, a beautiful show that is definitely going to be the Renaissance for Football in scripted media.
This post will be an addition to my “why I love” series and isn’t going to spoil anything substantial. With that being said, let’s begin;
Ted Lasso is an Apple TV original that is loosely based on the NBC short “An American Coach In London” with a seminar premise from almost a decade ago. The premise being, An American football (not the real football) coach comes to England to coach a traditional football team with zero experience. The most noticeable difference between the two is that the NBC short is simply a sketch and doesn’t try to be anything more but Ted Lasso has great story beats and character development accompanied with the stellar comedy.
It’s actually extremely remarkable how they took the original sketch, elevated the things that worked, changed from a real premiere league club to a fictional one for more creativity, dropped the unnecessary things and improved upon them. For more of an explanation, I think while both Ted Lassos (the character himself and not the show/skit) are similar, the one we see later on is more cheesy, hyper, lovable, thoughtful and has layers underneath his dumb exterior and while some of these qualities can be seen in the initial iteration, they’re compressed and that version feels a bit too macho and proud in my opinion.
Ted Lasso is brilliantly played by Jason Sudekeis, his comedic timing, mannerisms, accent and quiet moments are all so perfectly crafted and honestly I’ll riot if he doesn’t get an Emmy. Where other optimistic characters in other properties might feel annoying or boring, Coach Ted never wears you out (or at-least, he never wears me out). Ted isn’t the only great thing about this show though because, it’s elevated to higher heights by its supporting characters who have actual personalities and go through character arcs as each episode passes.
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| Brett Goldstein plays Roy Kent |
My favorite character outside of Ted is Roy Kent, the mid 30’s hot tempered captain of AFC Richmond who’s mostly surviving on his glory days while trying to find his purpose as an aged man in the league. I love him so much because he’s sort of the only chameleon aside Ted on the show. When I say Chameleon, I mean in the context of how he’s capable of switching into any role he’s put in. Through out the series he has comedic, romantic and very serious moments and is easily a standout. I hope he wins an Emmy too as he got nominated and other cast members and the series itself got nominations.
One of the crazy things about this show is how well it does cheesiness. The show runners had no right to make it work so well. I don’t cringe when I see cheesy scenes because they flow so well and do not actually feel generic. At its core the show is very hopeful, the optimism that the show centers around can be sensed from the very beginning is highly welcomed as it doesn’t come off as preachy or “in your face” but rather just human.
As a mild football fan who has a super football fan for an elder brother, I really enjoyed the jokes on this show but what I appreciated most was the writing. The writing is so good and I’m not even exaggerating by saying this. Every thing I love about this show works because of the writing. The way it finds a balance between comedy and drama, the quieter moments are set up really well and the drama shines even though the show’s major focus is on the comedy. The music just like the show is simple but extremely effective in connecting to the audience when it needs to.
While it’s not the pinnacle of cinematography or visual storytelling, the show’s visible style is very distinct and looks unique when compared to other comedic shows. The colors are bright and beautiful, it looks homely and welcoming, simple yet weirdly brilliant and standard enough to be called cinematic during certain key moments. I think the way the show looks contributes to why it has gathered such a huge following. It’s crispness is fresh and pleasing to the eye and I honestly think it’s why I was able to watch every episode without feeling worn out in anyway.
In a world feel with uncertainty, sadness and pain, Ted Lasso makes me feel happy. It’s great to watch shows like this that are genuinely thoughtful, loving and really well written. If you haven’t seen Ted Lasso I strongly encourage that you do and I am very certain you will not regret it. If that’s not enough for you, watch it because of all the Emmy nominations and buzz it’s been having, I personally do not believe awards equals quality but I’m just putting it out there for those that do.
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